Star Wars: Heroes of Another Kind

[Krafus]

Thanks for the stats, I always enjoy looking at those. So, Ket was an 18th-level character... No wonder he was so tough to beat. I wonder, did you stat him that way so he wouldn't have four attacks per round (which might have made him too strong an opponent)? Oh, and his strenght score seems rather low in comparaison to Marix and Nine.

Glad to know Yoda and the similarly-powered could handle the average Mrrakesh or Alraxian with ease. As for their stats, I thought they were handled rather well in the online articles at WotC's site. IIRC, Yoda and Palpatine were 20th level, and Mace 19th, and all three had a full four attacks per round and BABs of 22 and or more.

As for the Tobias stuff, it's actually my favorite part. As I've said before, I enjoy reading about Jedi and their training.

Oh, and if I may ask, what do you think of the new SW Saga Edition?

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Thanks for the stats, I always enjoy looking at those. So, Ket was an 18th-level character... No wonder he was so tough to beat. I wonder, did you stat him that way so he wouldn't have four attacks per round (which might have made him too strong an opponent)? Oh, and his strenght score seems rather low in comparaison to Marix and Nine.

Honestly, 18 is a nice number to put him at a higher level than Sadrak but not too much higher to be completely impossible. His Str score I am a bit iffy on, myself. His emphasis is much more on the Dex end of things, and while rebuilding him I didn't want to just go and make him far too overpowered. Technically, he doesn't do anything that would directly show a very high Str score, so that's my rational for it.

Glad to know Yoda and the similarly-powered could handle the average Mrrakesh or Alraxian with ease. As for their stats, I thought they were handled rather well in the online articles at WotC's site. IIRC, Yoda and Palpatine were 20th level, and Mace 19th, and all three had a full four attacks per round and BABs of 22 and or more.

I do agree that the stats are good for what they are...I just don't think its really necessary to stat out guys like that. The biggest problem comes with when other players hit those levels. Then you have players that, by a purely numbers way of looking at it, are just as strong as Yoda and Palpy and that just feels...wrong to me.

I have no problem with Epic rules for Star Wars, as I think people like those three really would fit as an Epic moreso than just as a 20th level character.

As for the Tobias stuff, it's actually my favorite part. As I've said before, I enjoy reading about Jedi and their training.

Oh, and if I may ask, what do you think of the new SW Saga Edition?

No Saga for me yet...I've had a chance to give a good look to the rules while waiting for the local comic shop to put up the new stuff last Wednesday, and I really do love it, but just don't have the cash on me right now.

Of course, I do have a problem with them that isn't the fault of the rules at all but something that's just me...I love the d20 rules. They work so well for me. I can very easily see myself continuing to use the Revised rules AND Saga, but I just have found that the Revised rules click so well for me I can't bring myself to just ditch them.

Besides, I enjoy one thing that the Saga book omitted...crafting. Some of my favourite characters I've seen were more non-combat type Tech Specialists, one even a Chief Engineer PrC and it was great. Its not as much movie Star Wars style to have that kind of character, but obviously I'm an EU kind of guy.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 476: Honouring a Stranger

Venda allowed herself a long, calming sigh. She had spent the last few minutes with the Alraxian woman from before who had called herself a Redstar. Venda quickly identified this with ‘healer’, as she could feel the Alraxian using the Force to very expertly treat her wounds. Now, though, Venda’s wrists no longer were wracked with pain and she was able to think straight again.

“The stories tell of the Jedi being the most noble beings in the galaxy,” the Redstar was saying as she was now cleaning what was left of the wounds with a very interesting liquid, “I am glad that our limited experience with the Jedi of this time are just as noble.”

“Um...thank you,” Venda said quietly, a bit unsure of how, exactly, to respond.

And then the Alraxian woman stopped what she was doing. After a moment, she looked up to meet Venda’s eyes, caught something there, and then a grin formed on her face, “You have no idea what just happened at the Palace, do you?”

Suddenly feeling uncomfortable with that grin being directed at her, Venda shifted in the large chair some, “I know that Marix...” a slight shift in the Force from the Redstar was easy to detect, and Venda knew why, “That the Empress’ child was in danger. I did what I could to help protect him.”

The grin on the Redstar’s face became a broad, happy smile, “The two Knights who you fought with were among a handful of warriors amongst our people, and they were both handpicked by the Empress herself due to their previous experience. They were the best, lady Jedi. Both of them fell to our people’s greatest enemy, which are stronger and our better in nearly every way.. You, however, sit here with the only real wounds being broken bones...”

The thought was allowed to hang in the air, and the gravity of what had occurred began to weigh down on Venda as she gained a little more understanding. But despite that, the Alraxian woman was still smiling, and said very softly, as if to herself, “You remind me very much of Jyren when he first arrived.”

“When he first arrived?” Venda had caught something else knew that she felt like digging into.

The outward demeanor of happiness did not fade from the Alraxian, but her feeling through the Force was noticeably dimmer all of a sudden, “It is...not my place to go into the specifics. But yes, he was much as you are now, with little idea of what was happening around him and simply doing what he felt was right.”

“You knew him well,” sharp natural instincts tipped that one off for Venda. The Force was helpful, but sometimes being aware of what was around in the physical world was just as important.

With a nod, the Redstar idly got to her feet and also reached a hand down to help Venda up, “The only reason I was assigned to him was that I speak Trade. After that, I was simply a familiar face and he seemed to react much better to that than to some of the older Redstars,” she was now leading the way to the door, which opened in an interesting motion that was hard for Venda to describe, and walking slowly with Venda down Loki’s main access corridor, “I would say that he was a friend, and I am sad that he is gone...but it is my job to be strong for those in pain.”

It seemed like probing farther would not be appropriate, and so Venda silently followed the taller Alraxian. They came to another door, which opened to reveal a rather large room that had a table extending across most of it. A pair of Knights sat at the far end, with various other Alraxians dressed in uniforms that Venda couldn’t identify. All heads turned when the door opened and Venda was suddenly very aware they were all looking at her. After a short moment, they were all saying various things that she had no idea of.

The Redstar waved her hand and they went silent. She then turned and leaned forward slightly to look to Venda again, “The hardest thing for Jyren to understand was our people’s isolation. He told me once that when he first came here, the only thing anyone ever did was to stare blankly at him in surprise. He was right. It was...disrespectful and very unkind to treat him that way. It is still hard for many to understand why a stranger would come to us with no real knowledge of who we are and protect the things we all hold dear. But we are grateful for it. You have fought Mrrakesh and lived...and you showed no fear standing to fight them. What you have done is something few Alraxians could do, and you putting your life on the line for our people is something we will never forget.”

“Thank you,” it was all Venda could think to say. She was so used to being screamed at by locals at best, shot at when it was at the worst, that to be complimented and thanked in such a way was actually unnerving. The irony in that was not lost on her, and a pang of sadness was hard to avoid as her mind thought about the state of the rest of the galaxy with how the Jedi were treated.

She then turned directly to the Redstar and asked in a more quiet voice, “Have you heard anything from the Empress?”

“No,” the word had a way of cutting through the air like a blaster bolt, “But we would know if something had happened.”

The Redstar then put a gentle hand on Venda’s shoulder to help lead her back down the corridor and back towards the direction they had come. As they walked, Venda asked, “Where are we going?”

The question was more vague than she’d meant it to be, but the Alraxian woman seemed to pick up on the real meaning behind it rather than the thousands of others that were possible, “Safely away from Alraxia for the moment. We do not have specific procedures for this situation, as nothing like it has ever happened before, but it seems the most important thing is to protect the child.”

That didn’t answer the question completely. But, then again, a planet name or any location likely wouldn’t mean a thing to Venda, who knew nothing at all about the section of space. It was called the Unknown Regions for a good reason.

“Is he alright?” she asked.

“Yes,” again, the Redstar understood the real question, “He is scared, but no child of his age wouldn’t be. Beyond that, however, he will be fine.”

In front of them, Venda could see the end of the corridor, which was the cockpit of the ship. There were two Alraxian-sized chairs in the center in front of the consoles, but Venda immediately noticed no one sat in either of them, and the Redstar simply ended up standing behind the right one. As Venda stopped behind the other chair, she looked out the viewport to see a large, blue-orange planet off to one side. However, it was the giant, silver starship of a shape like she had never seen that caught her attention.

In a quiet voice, again as if speaking to herself, the Redstar said, “If the Empress does not arrive here soon, we will go back for her. The Jendari are our greatest allies. They have helped us grow to the point we are now. If the Empress does not reach us here, it will be the first time in four thousand years that a Jendari warship has been to Alraxia.”

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 477: Not-So-Aggressive Negotiations

Starships were such amazing things. Most beings in the galaxy seemed to take them for granted, but Tobias was always amazed by them. It didn’t matter the kind, either, Kanyak, X-Wing, or bulk transport...all of them had their own unique qualities that were simply fascinating. As it was the first time he had ever been aboard a Mon Calamari cruiser, Tobias was easily lost in the nuances of the ship.

The most notable quality to the ship that was unlike anything Tobias had ever experienced before was the air, itself. The atmosphere within was humid, to the point where, on some decks, it felt like walking through water. It was so humid, in fact, that Tobias couldn’t help but be reminded of Alraxia during the rain, and it took a great deal of effort to resist the urge to stay comfortable and simply morph to his Alraxian body. But the temperature wasn’t all that was so unique. The construction of the ship was much more like a Kanyak than anything he’d seen in a metal ship. Curves and very natural shapes formed the entirety of the ship, and Tobias sometimes found himself wondering if it was, in fact, alive.

Of course, Tobias was currently trying his best to stop being distracted by the beauty of the ship he was aboard and focus on the task at hand. This was ignoring the fact that he wasn’t completely sure what that task was, exactly. Master Ral was still aboard the shuttle, and had sent Tobias to go talk with Tokarr. The problem was, Tobias wasn’t told what it was he was actually supposed to be doing. Master Ral had dodged the question very easily more than once, and before Tobias knew it, he was off the transport and wandering the corridors of the ship to find a single person.

At least tracking him down wasn’t hard. One thing Tobias was getting the hang of was calming his wandering thoughts enough to sense presences in the Force around him. While he couldn’t quite pinpoint or track individuals, Tokarr was easy to spot as he had the same feeling from earlier...annoyance bordering on anger in such a way that it overpowered most of the other feelings that were permeating through the Force.

And now, still completely unsure of what he was actually doing, Tobias had found Tokarr. It was a sparring room of some sort, with a large, padded mat on the floor and along most of the walls. The Miraluka was currently unleashing a rather violent punishing on a padded punching bag that was roughly humanoid shaped. The thing that bothered Tobias, though, was the fact that he was able to enter the room and stand there for a good five minutes before Tokarr even took notice of him. Someone trained in the Force, even for a short time, should have known he was being watched right away.

Well, no, that was a lie.

What really bothered him was the way the air became heavy and oppressive when he entered the room, but Tobias tried to push that away as he had in that temple on Yavin IV, and so picked something else to be bothered by instead. It seemed logical enough to him.

“I was focused, thank you,” Tokarr’s voice growled at the dummy in front of him. The Miraluka still wasn’t turning around to face Tobias, but he could feel the Force shifting to focus on him slightly more.

That was also a lie. Tobias couldn’t detect it with the Force, he wasn’t that good, but he could hear it in Tokarr’s voice. But he was still unsure of what he was really supposed to be doing, and so simply decided not to make things worse by saying the wrong thing...so he said nothing.

However, that seemed to flare up more anger in Tokarr, who did turn around and tilted his head to the side slightly as if inspecting Tobias. Through the Force, Tobias could feel that this was definitely the case, “So Corentan sent you this time, hm?”

“He just wants to help,” Tobias said quietly.

Without eyes, Tokarr could not roll them, but the sigh he let out was just as effective, “Help what? Help me be a Jedi when that is obviously not my path? Help me to do what he thinks is right?”

Something clicked in Tobias’ mind and he realized a pattern in what Tokarr had been saying, “Its not about Master Ral.”

That was why Tobias was there. Tokarr kept making it all about Master Ral, using that to ignore the actual problem. Without the Jedi Master around, though, the argument wouldn’t hold for long...especially since Tobias hadn’t been told what to do and was working this all out as he went along.

“Oh, wonderful,” Tokarr pointed an accusing finger at Tobias and managed an eyeless glare through the cloth over his face, “So you come here like all the other Jedi. Self-righteous and swearing that you know what’s best for everyone. Here to tell me that because I’m not doing what you think is right, I’m evil and dark. I’d rather here that kriffing pile of junk from Corentan than an idealistic little sycophant.”

“Shut up!” there was a layer in those two words that Tobias didn’t realize he’d put in. He’d gotten so angry at the tirade that he’d actually layered his voice with the Force to make it like a hammer through the air.

It worked, and Tokarr stood there looking surprised at the sudden outburst. Tobias quickly took advantage of the silence to get straight to the point, having immediately calmed himself and now back to speaking in a more level tone, “No one has said you have to be a Jedi, Tokarr. You don’t. But you have a responsibility to not just throw away what you have learned! You can’t take what you want and throw the rest away. Have you even stopped and tried to feel the air around you? Your anger is so strong that its probably even being noticed by people that can’t even sense the Force in the first place!”

“Sithspit, don’t give me that responsibility lecture!” Tokarr stepped forward again, the anger around him growing considerably.

Tobias nearly threw his hands up in frustration but kept them firmly at his sides. His voice, however, showed the annoyance openly, “Fine! Forget the responsibility! Go get yourself, and everyone you work with here killed because you’re so caught up in your anger that you can’t focus on the job you’re supposed to be doing!”

A snarl formed on Tokarr’s face, “See? Because I don’t listen to you, I’m going to get other people killed! If anger’s so horrible, then why are you screaming at me?”

The realization of that hit Tobias hard. Suddenly the he had lost his train of thought, which was probably a good thing, and was lost in the fact that he was doing exactly what he shouldn’t be doing to try and help this man. Yelling at him was only fueling his anger and making it worse. But, for once, Tobias didn’t fall into self-pity or anger at himself. His mind worked quickly to put him back into a level headed state.

By the time he was back in the present, Tokarr was storming past him to the door to leave. However, before he reached it, Tobias said in a calm voice, “You’re only angry because you know its true, Tokarr. You can feel the darkness in you and you don’t know what to do. You’re afraid of it, and you’re angry at us for seeing that. And that only makes it grow. Master Ral isn’t angry at you, Tokarr. He doesn’t look down on you or think you’ve failed...he just wants to help you.”

Tokarr had stopped halfway through that. By the time Tobias had finished, the Miraluka had formed a fist and his hand was shaking. There was a very short second of silence and Tobias actually thought he might have finally managed it.

That hope was quickly killed when Tokarr let out a wordless growl of pure rage, turned around, and charged straight for Tobias.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 478: Third Passenger

Her name was Maia. She was a great deal younger than Loki and about half his size, and her pilot was one of the Knights stationed at the Palace on Alraxia, and she was quite surprised to find the Empress running inside and screaming at her to get off the ground immediately. Maia was smart, though, and positioned all of her surprised questions while she was reaching orbit rather than waiting.

Now they were in hyperspace, taking the short jump to meet with the Jendari ship and, hopefully, Loki a few star systems away. The small cockpit had only one seat, and Marix was comfortably resting and gently scratching Andrea’s ear. She wasn’t asleep, but wasn’t crying anymore, either. Marix wasn’t going to complain about that.

[You are sure you are alright?] Maia asked, no longer distracted with the task of getting off of Alraxia as quickly as possible.

[Yes, thank you.] Marix answered for the fifth time.

“Momma...” it was the first time Andrea had said anything since Marix had reached her room in the Palace. Immediately, she ignored anything else the Kanyak was saying and looked down to her daughter, who was looking up with red around her silvery eyes from crying so much. In Alraxian, the little girl said softly, “Is Saaran okay?”

Marix’s hand went to gently stroking Andrea’s black stripe, “He is safe with your grandfather. We will see them in a little while.”

Andrea just watched Marix for a moment, and she couldn’t help but feel a little unnerved. The little girl had an intelligence that showed through in those eyes that made Marix think that Andrea knew a great deal more than anyone gave her credit for. She looked so much like Marix, and even seemed to have the quiet, reserved personality that Marix had before she was taken by Faban Sunrunner to be trained as a Tam’Day’U. But there was more to it than that and Marix couldn’t put it in words, or even in coherent thoughts.

And then Andrea spoke up again, her voice still quiet but a hopeful tone sneaking in, “...will Daddy be there...?”

Inside, Marix froze. Her outer appearance would have done the same thing if Andrea wasn’t looking at her like that. In as steady as a voice as she could manage, Marix whispered, “I don’t think so, Andrea.”

The little jai looked like she was going to cry again, but instead just turned and rested her head on Marix’s chest again, “...wish he would be...”

“Me too,” Marix went back to scratching Andrea’s ear to hopefully make her feel better.

A few quiet minutes past as they continued the trip through hyperspace, and then Marix felt something. It was quick, and gone as soon as she realized it was even there. A feeling in the Force. Focused. Strong...angry.

And, immediately, she knew what it was.

[Maia, where is the third person aboard?] she asked, slowly sitting up and beginning to detach Andrea from her.

There was a feeling of confusion from the ship. [There is no one else, my lady...]

Oh, he was good.

By now, Marix was on her feet and gently placed Andrea down in the seat, “I’ll be right back. You stay here, okay?”

Andrea looked worried. She was definitely smart enough to know that something was wrong, “Don’t wanna be alone...”

“Maia is here,” Marix motioned up to the ship around them, “I won’t be long, I promise.”

She then leaned down and gave Andrea an affectionate kiss on the forehead before turned and leaving the cockpit. [Seal that off behind me.]

Marix heard the door close, but didn’t turn. Her entire focus was now in front of her. The central corridor leaving the cockpit was just like Loki’s, but so much smaller that she could actually see where it ended and the back sections of the ship, where the Kanyak’s organs were, was sealed off. Through the Force, she searched but still couldn’t find anything.

He was very good.

“I know you are there, Mrrakesh,” Marix knew he wasn’t going to be able to ambush her if she stayed right where she was, meaning that the best thing to do was to draw him out. When no response came, which was expected, she attempted again, still speaking Trade, which he would undoubtedly understand, “If you were intelligent you would know that I could have this ship simply crush all of the rooms within that you might be hiding in. So you may step out now and stop being a coward or be crushed by the walls around you.”

She waited a few moments, but still nothing. Ah. Wait.

“If you are thinking you can cut your way through with that sword of yours, I would not count on that,” she was still trying to find him through the Force, but couldn’t. That little flash in the Force, though, for whatever reason, told her that he was there...somewhere, “Kanyaks react faster than the Palace, Mrrakesh. You will be crushed before you can make any progress.”

And then, finally, the door farthest away, on the left side of the corridor, opened. Through it, one of the large Mrrakesh stepped out, sword in hand as he bent down slightly due to the low, for him at least, ceiling. She recognized him, too. It was the first of the group, the one she’d thrown out the window with. How he’d survived, she didn’t know...but she knew it was dangerous to assume any of her enemies were dead if she didn’t have a body to cut into little pieces to make sure.

He did not say anything, though. That didn’t surprise Marix. He was a tool for the Mrrakesh...for whoever had sent him. Just a lackey without any real information beyond what his mission was, and all he would care about was completing that mission.

Marix took a few deeep breaths, then shifted her body in the tight corridor to assume a readied, defensive stance. The vibroblade was back on Alraxia, still lodged within one of the dead Mrrakesh. But she didn’t need it. In this tight quarters, that sword would be useless anyway and she would have the advantage.

Her tail flicked in annoyance and she growled at him, “Do I have to tell you how to do everything, scum? If you stand there much longer I’ll kill you without giving you the chance of a good fight.”

She was angry. Very, very angry. Because of that, Marix wasn’t exactly thinking straight. She should have killed him by having Maia crush the rooms. But Marix didn’t. She wanted the pleasure of killing this coward herself. This stupid, foolish creature had made the dumbest mistake...it had tried to kill her children. It had brought an entire task force with it to kill two small, defenseless children.

But they hadn’t expected that the children’s mother would be around, obviously. If they had, they wouldn’t have tried it. Angering a Tam’Day’U was one thing. Angering Marix was another. But angering Marix after all of the things the Force had thrown at her in the last month by trying to go after her children was it. None of them were going to live.

And as the Mrrakesh finally charged at her, Marix smiled. He didn’t know what he’d gotten himself into.

Neither did Faban Sunrunner.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 479: The Rules

Venda would likely have been more amazed by the Jendari ship if she hadn’t been so surrounded by new sights already. To her, it was simply a different kind of ship, which was made of metal, of a kind at least, rather than being alive like the Alraxian ships seemed to be. The Jendari ship seemed more similar to a Mon Calamari cruiser with its white corridors, but it was much more large and open with viewports everywhere they cold be placed to provide a view of space. It was obviously designed with its avian creators in mind, meaning that the stark white and somewhat rounded edges were the only similarities to the Mon Calamari ships.

Loki had docked with the ship upon arrival, and now, only a few minutes later, another, similar looking ship was landing in the large bay next to Loki. When the Alraxian Knights formed up next to the hatch, Venda didn’t need to be told the occupant. With the Knights, was the older Alraxian, Navik Keros, holding the Empress’ son, Venda and the Redstar, and a large group of the interesting looking, bird-like Jendari.

When the hatch opened up in that odd motion that Venda had never seen anywhere but on these Alraxian ships, the entire hangar suddenly echoed with a pang of shock through the Force. Two of the nearest Knights even started to dive forward towards the hatch, while the Redstar and most of the Jendari took very large steps back.

What emerged from the hatch was Marix. She was breathing heavily, had a good amount of blue and red liquid, which was likely blood, across her, and was holding up her daughter against her left shoulder. None of that was the origin of the surprise. It was what she was dragging along the deck at her feet.

It actually took Venda a moment to identify the...thing. And what alerted her to its identity was the blue-black suit it wore. One of the Mrrakesh...or at least, it had been. It had no arms, both of which looked to have been removed at the shoulder. The mask across its face was sliced, with a long scar that looked to be still bleeding going from its muzzle, across its left eye, and then to a spot where its left ear should have been...but was suspiciously missing. Its right leg also looked to be bent at a very unhealthy angle.

When she stepped onto the deckplates of the Jendari, Marix tossed the Mrrakesh face first to the ground, and Venda could see claw marks along the back of its neck. It also wasn’t that hard to see Marix’s hand was looking very claw-like for a few short seconds afterwards. The Empress then turned to one of the nearby Knights and said a few words in Alraxian. In a moment, the Knights were picking up the Mrrakesh and were being led off by a pair of Jendari.

“You have such a way with people,” Navik Keros commented after the Mrrakesh was gone. In his arms, Saaran, was oblivious to anything but his mother and his sister, grinning and reaching for them. In Marix’s arms, Andrea seemed to be in the same situation, and the feelings of happiness were surprisingly strong in the Force.

“My lady...” it was one of the Jendari, who was dressed differently and stood a bit taller. He was also, like Navik, speaking Trade, “Are you alright?”

“Of course,” there was a hint of annoyance through the Force, but Marix’s voice held none of it, “Unless he bleeds to death, the Mrrakesh will live.”

“How did...why...” it was the Redstar, a shocked look on her face that was the only sign of emotion beyond calm that Venda had seen on her, “Why didn’t he simply remorph his wounds?”

So Mrrakesh could heal like that, too...

“He did,” Marix’s words were flat, “Three times.”

“You want him interrogated,” the Jendari said, a three-clawed hand making an interesting motion in the air as he spoke. The words were also fast enough to feel like they were cutting Marix’s train of thought off to send them in another direction.

Marix shook her head as she shifted Andrea into her right arm, “I will interrogate him.”

There were a few seconds of uneasy silence, then the Jendari spoke up again, “My lady, I do not believe that would be appropriate. It would be best if you were not directly involved.”

Eyes narrowing, Marix looked straight to the Jendari, “You think I’ll kill him.”

“No,” the answer was swift, and perfectly spoken to show that there was no lie there, “I know you will, and you are well within your rights to. However, you left him alive for a reason and it would be a waste to kill him before we can learn everything we can about who sent him...also, your son has been here only a matter of minutes and I have heard nothing from him but asking for you.”

It was the last sentence that really sealed it. Venda could feel Marix’s emotions shift considerably at the mention of her son. There was a slow softening from the Alraxian Empress and her silvery-violet eyes redirected from the Jendari to Saaran.

Taking a step towards Navik, Marix extended her free arm to take Saaran from him, “Come here, Saaran-jai.”

The little black-furred, blue striped child didn’t hesitate, and immediate let go of Navik to be grabbed by his mother. As she pulled him close and rubbed her cheek against him gently, Marix said to the Jendari, “Do you have any quarters free?”

“Of course, my lady. Right this way,” the Jendari said with an odd expression on his avian features that was probably some form of smile.

As they all began to fall into step behind the Jendari, Venda couldn’t help but feel a bit more useless than before. But the Redstar was next to her, radiating a calm through the Force that was disturbingly intoxicating. Leading the way, Marix was discussing something with the Jendari, but Venda found that she couldn’t really hear. She was far enough behind, with Knights and a pair of other Jendari in between, that she couldn’t hear clearly and decided not to eavesdrop, instead simply taking in the unique ship around her.

Eventually, the large, open corridors began to narrow, and the Redstar nodded politely to Venda before stepping in front of her and around the others. The two Knights, Marix, and the Redstar walked into a room, leaving the others in what Venda felt to be even more awkward silence.

But Navik Keros stepped over to her and bowed, saying softly in perfect Basic, “I did not have the chance to thank you for what you did.”

“You didn’t need to,” Venda said with a smile, then motioned towards the closed door, “Besides, the Redstar has flattered me enough for one day.”

Navik laughed quietly and nodded, “Neasa has always been rather fascinated with Jedi.”

Venda caught something in that and a questioning look formed on her face, “You aren’t, are you?”

Reaching down, he placed a rather large hand on her shoulder, “My dear, I am very grateful of your actions today in protecting my family. But I believe I am the only Alraxian alive today to have known three Jedi in my lifetime. I know by now that the old stories are much more than just tales we tell our children.”

At that, Venda couldn’t help but smile. Of course, it did raise another question, “To have known three Jedi you would have to be much older than you look.”

Navik’s laugh this time was much louder, and the three Jendari standing with them all turned to look. They obviously hadn’t been paying attention, “I am not immune to flattery, but I am also not a very old man, either. Just a lucky one. My wife...Jyren’s mother was a Jedi. She escaped murder at the hands of Sith by trying to hide in what she thought were uninhabited areas of space...”

And a few more pieces fell into place for Venda. Interesting. While she had been fairly sure that Navik was Jyren’s father, there was still the chance that he was Marix’s. Or something else entirely and the culture was just completely different in family structure. Jyren’s mother a Jedi survivor of the purge, though...that was interesting. Venda felt compelled to ask Navik more about her, a curiosity about the Jedi-of-old suddenly appearing.

But the door opened again, and Marix stepped out along with one of the Knights. Marix gave a cursory glance to Venda, and while she said nothing, there was an unsaid gratefulness through the Force. But it lasted only a half second, and then Venda could feel nothing from the Alraxian. Some words in a language she didn’t understand were exchanged, and they were walking again, the Knight staying behind, guarding the outside of the door. Venda assumed that the other was in side...every precaution, apparently.

In a short few moments, they all entered another room. At first, Venda thought it was the bridge. The room was huge, circular, with a viewport stretching nearly the entire wall, excluding the walls just adjacent to the door. Very interesting looking, triangular-shaped terminals were all around, and while she could see many Jendari, there weren’t nearly enough to run a ship that size.

As Venda was wondering about the room’s purpose, they reached a large, circular table with no chairs in the center of the room. There looked to be a holographic display of a section of the galaxy embedded...underneath the surface of the table. Odd...it was definitely a three dimensional image, but Venda had never seen one projected under a surface rather than up.

Wasting no time, Marix looked straight across from her to where the Jendari that had done all the speaking stood, “How long until you interrogate the Mrrakesh?”

“He is already secured and we simply are awaiting him to regain consciousness,” the Jendari nodded its head at an angle, sending a few feathers off to the side before he reached up and brushed them back, “My lady, we will not execute him.”

Marix’s eyes narrowed for a few short moments, but then she leaned back slightly and said simply, “Learn what you can and alert one of the Knights when you are finished.”

An uneasy silence followed.

It was Navik who decided to brave this and speak what was on all of their minds, “Marix, you need to be calm before you make these kind of decisions.”

“I am calm,” the words cut through the air like ice, freezing everything they came into contact with. Marix locked eyes with Navik, who didn’t flinch at all, “And I am not your son, Navik. I know full well what I am doing. If you do not approve, I do not care. Leave.”

Another silence.

Navik didn’t leave, though.

Marix then turned to the Jendari, who was suddenly much more drawn in and harder to read through the Force, “Take us back to Alraxia immediately. Send a message before we leave that Faban Sunrunner is to be brought aboard the moment we arrive.”

“Yes, my lady,” the Jendari then reached down and touched a point on the surface of the table. His claw-like finger sunk into the material slightly before a soft glow emitted from the star he touched. As more of the Jendari around them began to move around quickly, Venda decided that they were, in fact, on the bridge. But then the Jendari looked up to Marix and posed a question, “What do you intend to do with Faban?”

“I am going to kill him,” the words were short, simple, and definitely the truth. The entire area seemed to stop at those words. This was something none of them were used to. Marix wasn’t oblivious to this, but kept her focus solely on the Jendari across from her, “You don’t approve. I don’t care. It doesn’t matter. The only reason the Mrrakesh have not launched a true attack on the Empire since the Darkwing Wars is because they know that your ships, combined with Alraxian survivability is something they cannot defeat. Now they’ve decided otherwise. They’ve seen we will just sit back and let them take our planets. We showed weakness and now they aren’t afraid anymore. For the second time in our lifetime, Mrrakesh have set foot on a planet that was a secret from them until Faban Sunrunner betrayed us for his own selfish reasons.”

Marix stopped for a moment and Venda noticed that she was digging claws into the table and leaning forward, “But we tolerated that. Hoped that it was just a rogue faction. And now they’ve come back and they tried to kill my children. They attacked at a time when I was gone, and Faban knew it! Faban tried to kill my children. He told the Mrrakesh where we live, when to strike, and how to. And I am done ignoring it.”

A few short moments passed, and then the many Jendari around them were back to doing whatever it was they were doing. The others were left to simply look to Marix or to the image below them. But Navik’s focus was one that remained on Marix, and he began to speak more analytically, “It doesn’t matter if it’s a rogue faction amongst the Mrrakesh responsible for this. All of them will support the attack. And if you are correct and this was intended to occur while you were away, then they would do more than just assassinate the children.”

“A full scale attack,” Venda finally spoke up. She wasn’t an expert on politics anywhere in the galaxy, but she could understand basic tactics.

Marix was nodding, and when she spoke her voice was still that low, worrying calm, “There are more of these warships than the ones guarding the border, correct?”

A slight humming noise was what passed for a sigh from the Jendari, but he nodded, “You are correct. You are taking us into a dangerous place, Marix.”

“Faban took us to that place, not me,” she then looked down to the image beneath and reached down to gently touch another star, though it didn’t glow at her touch, “Send three ships here. Destroy every single city on that planet and then return to our territory.”

“Marix...” Navik obviously didn’t know where else to go, as he didn’t say anything else.

“That will guarantee a war, my lady,” the Jendari was more diplomatic.

Marix turned to glare at the Jendari again, “The Mrrakesh believe in strength and nothing else. They think we are weak. The rules are different now. They will stop whatever attack they have planned when they hear we’ve destroyed everything on a planet that deep within their own space. In that time, we will be have the knowledge from our prisoner and from Faban and we will be ready.”

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 480: Alarms

Tobias took a heavy punch to his jaw before he had any chance at all to react. Crying out in pain actually made it hurt worse, and he had no real time to get his balance before Tokarr swung again. Despite that, though, Tobias attempted to at least raise his hand to block to punch. It was an action he’d seen Marix to many times...parrying a punch with her wrist or arm and deflecting it away.

Of course, like most things, it looked much easier than it was. Tokarr’s fist did strike Tobias’ arm, but at an angle that sent a shock of pain mixed with numbness through his entire left arm. Tokarr also yelped, having sent his fist straight into Tobias’ arm...it wasn’t deflected at all. There was a momentary pause, long enough for Tobias to yell out, “What are you doing?!”

The Miraluka didn’t dignify that with any kind of response. What he was doing was plainly obvious. Why he was doing it would have been a better question, but that likely would have gotten the same response...none. Well, nothing verbal. He simply charged straight for Tobias again, swinging again.

This time, Tobias allowed at least some sense to take hold of him. He didn’t have the time, or the training, to do any of the fancy things Marix or Jyren might have done. His combat training was very, very limited. In fact, most all of it centered around defensive actions and dodging, while he always pushed himself to be like his parents and simply roll with the punches he took. This was all because of his limited experience in how much punches actually hurt.

So Tobias ducked, and Tokarr’s swing went over him.

That was when Tobias realized that Tokarr had more combat training than he did, as a knee was already coming up to slam straight into Tobias’ face. He heard, and felt, a crack as Tokarr’s knee forced a very sudden stop in his movement, and the next thing he knew, Tobias was on the ground on his back, staring up at a blurry looking ceiling.

Vaguely, he heard a swishing sound, and somewhere in his mind, Tobias put the sound together with its location and decided it was a door opened...then closing. As he lay on his back, realizing that he was now alone in the small room, Tobias couldn’t help but wonder what, exactly, had just happened. An odd thought popped into his head. He had learned something. Tokarr was disturbingly violent.

Tobias managed to laugh to himself at that thought as he slowly sat up. A hand reached up to his nose and he very carefully felt it. Broken. With a sigh, he remorphed the injury and tried to ignore the faint shadow of a pain that remained. He didn’t bother with the bruise on his left wrist, deciding that he’d had worse and would live.

And then he heard an alarm. It was loud, repetitive, and came out of no where. The sudden blaring made him nearly jump out of his skin. Reaching a quick decision, Tobias decided he needed to get back to Master Ral quickly and ask someone what was going on while he headed for the hangar.

* * * *​

“Flightsuits on, kids!” Rulae said over his shoulder as he scrambled into his own orange suit, an arm extended to grab the white padding that went over his chest.

The words were spoken as the three other Zephyrs ran into the small room that held their uniforms. It had been a storage room hours before they arrived on board, and the crates were evident of the fact. But that didn’t impede the four pilots from quickly scrambling for their suits.

Nor did it stop the Coruscanti woman, Adria Harken, from asking the question they were all wondering, “They took the bait? They’ve attacked Corellia?”

“No,” Rulae’s answer was short, and there was a sullen tone to his voice that the others easily detected.

The other three stopped because of that tone, all turning to look at their Duros commander. Obrack Loro, the Mon Calamari pilot, spoke up this time, “Bothawui?”

Rulae shook his large head and pulled on one boot while grabbing his helmet with a free hand, “Fondor.”

“What?!” Harken was the most emotional of the pilots, so it wasn’t a surprise that she reacted first.

“We’re already in hyperspace,” Rulae explained as he pointed to their half-suited state, “We should arrive in time to join the fight before the local fleet is overwhelmed. This is not the time to talk politics or tactics. Suit up and get into your cockpits. We’re launching the second we drop out of hyperspace and if you aren’t with us then you’re on your own out there.”

The Duros then dropped his helmet onto his head, adjusted the chin guard, and left the others. Rea had been surprisingly quiet, and remained that way as she turned to finish getting the rest of her flight suit on. Of course, the others weren’t oblivious to this, and after Rulae was gone and they, too, went to finishing suiting up, Adria asked, “What is it, Rea?”

“Reminds me of Agamar,” the Twi’lek girl said quietly as she tightened the collar around her neck and made sure everything was commented correctly.

“Fondor’s one of our biggest shipyards,” Loro said as he picked up his helmet from a shelf that was obviously designed for much smaller objects. He stopped and formed a fist out of his fin-shaped hand, “Its not right. The Vong have better intel on us than we can dream of having on them!”

“The bloody scar-faces are smart,” Adria growled under her breath, her thick accent making the words a bit hard for Rea to understand, “I think its time we made an actual effort to find their spies because they sure as hell find ours.”

“Stow it,” Rea cut the two of them off as she picked up her own helmet, “The Commodore is right. Politics doesn’t matter right now. Fondor is under attack and its our job to protect them. How about we strangle the higher ups after we’ve taken out the Vong fleet?”

The other two exchanged a quick glance before both nodding. Together, they headed for the hangar. The alarms were blaring and the corridors of the cruiser were packed with other pilots, marines, and other personnel getting to their posts as quickly as they could. If the attack had come against Corellia or Bothawui, the three pilots would likely have exchanged boasts and even placed bets on who would score the most kills.

But this was different.

Yet again, the Vong had done something completely unexpected. And just like with Ithor, they had picked a very major target. But where Ithor was more a symbol and less a strategic target, Fondor was one of the most valuable worlds to the New Republic’s war effort. If it was lost, if they failed to drive back the Vong yet again, not only would there be an open path to the Core...but the New Republic would not be able to replace their losses fast enough to keep up.

Everything was going wrong again, and the battle hadn’t even begun.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 481: Eleven Years Late

Marix sat in the small quarters aboard the Jendari ship, bent over, head in her hands. Her eyes were closed, but she could hear, and feel through the Force, the twins playing and laughing with some very interesting Jendari-crafted toys on the floor in front of her. They were happy...alive...safe...but...

But she was furious. Had Jyren been there, he could have probably talked her down and calmed her, but he wasn’t, and Navik was no good at it. Jyren could have stopped her from ordering the Jendari to wipe that Mrrakesh world clean. Odd, though, as she wasn’t actually sure she wanted him to be there to stop her from that or not. Either way, it was too late. They were in orbit over Alraxia now, the first time since the Darkwing Wars that a Jendari ship orbited the hidden planet, and the message had been sent. There wasn’t stopping it now.

Marix made a note to call all of the Knights together as soon as she could and have the former Tam’Day’U train the others. The Mrrakesh wouldn’t stand around after one of their worlds was attacked, even if it was retaliation. Most of the Knights were good fighters, but not good enough. A Tam’Day’U was at least a match for a Mrrakesh, and it was less natural ability and more training. Marix had a feeling the significance of silver eyes may very well have been an indicator of an Alraxian that was unusually strong in the Force. But Tam’Day’U had been trained in combat abilities and to use the Force to augment them. The combat training could easily be used without the Force, as with the extensive amount of morph training that made Tam’Day’U truly unique amongst the Alraxians of the Empire. It was a long time coming, but the rest of the Knights needed it now.

It was going to be the first war between the Mrrakesh and the Alraxians that didn’t involve the Sith or Darkwings. And the Alraxians were ill-equipped, undertrained, and had the problem of a tiny group of Knights compared to the entire population of the Empire. Some of the other species would likely step up to fight, like the Jendari, but it wouldn’t be like the Mrrakesh.

They had armies. Sure, there were so many factions loyal to so many different Mrrakesh, but that would change. The Mrrakesh might vie for power with one another, but they would unite in a second against the Alraxians. Especially with the Vong pushing their other borders. Especially with their growing population and need for planets. Especially when the Alraxian Empress ordered an attack on one of their populated worlds.

Their fleets would be opposed by the Jendari and, to Marix’s annoyance, the human’s. She hated that thought, but they would all have to be together in the fight. The small group of humans knew how to operate their ships, even if they were decades old. It would be necessary. And they would fight just as hard as she would, because they were closest to the border and would be among the first worlds attacked. In space, even with unarmed Kanyaks, the Alraxians might actually win.

It was the ground war that concerned her. None of the species under the Empire had an army. None of them had local garrisons. None of them had anything at all. The only thing in the entire Alraxian Empire that came anywhere close to that were the Knights, and they numbered barely four hundred. And amongst the Knights, there there no more than fifty former Tam’Day’U. That wasn’t even enough to defend a single planet, let alone an entire Empire. The Knights were a peacekeeping force that settled small disputes and dealt with the rare pirates, they didn’t fight wars.

But they were going to.

There wasn’t going to be any choice soon.

Marix opened her eyes and lifted her head to look through annoying clumps of black hair to her two children. It was like nothing was wrong. Saaran laughing and pouncing over Andrea to grab a toy she was trying to keep away from him. Andrea crying only for a short second before wrenching the little...animal...thing...back into her own grip, giggling, then scampering across the room.

How could anyone try to take the lives of two little children? They were so...so...there wasn’t even a word for it. But Marix did know that anyone who would try to kill children like Andrea and Saaran, no matter who their parents were or what they would be when they grew up, didn’t deserve to live. And so she didn’t care about the numbers. No one threatened children with assassin, especially not her children.

No one.

“Marix...” she hadn’t even heard the door open, and that bothered her. But Marix sat up to see Navik standing in the door with a serious look on his face, “Faban Sunrunner has been brought aboard.”

At that, Marix quickly got to her feet and brushed the hair out of her face. In that one movement, she went from exhausted and the nearest she’d ever been to depressed to strong, angry, and the Empress she was supposed to be.

“I’ll keep an eye on the little ones,” Navik said as she went past. If she thanked him, he didn’t hear it.

Marix was soon following a trio of Jendari who were dressed in their usual uniforms. They attempted small talk, but Marix didn’t respond. She was focused. Her mind set on the task ahead of her. Distraction now meant a mistake with Faban, and he would take advantage of that in a second.

He was currently kept in a small room with no features at all and nothing inside but himself and a single, rounded chair. There would be a small hole near the ceiling that contained a surveillance device, and the Jendari would be watching. Not that it mattered to Marix.

When she entered the small room, she was not surprise to see Faban standing behind the chair, arms crossed across his chest, and simply watching the door. He stood just a bit taller than she did, but he was still shorter than Jyren. He wore dignified looking clothes and had a disapproving look on his angular, aged features.

“My lady,” he bowed his head and spoke calmly when she entered.

Marix kept her hands behind her and narrowed her eyes as she met his gaze, “Do not patronize me, Faban.”

The old Alraxian laughed shortly to himself and tilted his head to the side, “Not even a hello, I see. It seems I taught you too well.”

She ignored that easily enough, “What did you expect to gain?”

“And straight to the point, too,” he shook his head and shifted his weight slightly to one side, “But your instincts are still terrible. Have I ever served anyone but my own people?”

“Yes,” Marix said with a step forward, her eyes narrowing, “You wanted Kato on the throne again. Obviously you think you have something to gain here. What is it?”

“I want Kato on the throne because she should be there, Commander,” he spoke her old rank with a great deal of venom. That made Marix feel better, as it was more what she was expecting from him and meant he hadn’t changed at all.

Marix kept her calm, glad that he was already losing his, “Kato’s place is where she is now: in the Palace, staying out of the way and living quietly. She is intelligent enough to understand this and has actually learned from her mistake.”

“Cursed Ones do not belong on the throne!” Faban snapped quickly, pointing an accusing finger at her.

Snatching his hand out of the air, Marix began to very slowly put more and more pressure, crushing his hand at an agonizingly slow pace, “My eyes are a different colour than yours, Faban. That doesn’t mean I’m cursed. I think you’re just bitter that you don’t have any power anymore. But what I want to know right now,” at this point, Faban was trying to wrench his hand free and clenching his teeth to not make any noise, “...is what you expected to gain from trying to murder my children.”

She twisted his wrist sharply, getting a good snap from the bone, and then released his hand. Faban finally yelped in pain at his broken wrist, stumbling back into the wall the second he was free of her grip. He clutched his hand close to his chest and glaring back at her. He was not an expert at morphing like the Tam’Day’U he used to teach, and so it took an agonizing few moments to heal the wound. He was slower than Jyren had been when Marix had first taught him.

His hand healed, Faban managed to stand up straight again. When he spoke again, his voice was back to the calm, venomous control that it had been before, “Those children are an abomination!”

“And so you sell our people to the Mrrakesh?!” Marix finally lost her cool, screaming at him angrily.

There was a rage in her voice that caused him to hesitate. This was a man whose daughter had been a Tam’Day’U. He had trained her and sent her to die like all the others. While he never would admit it, Marix knew that haunted him. Now that she, too, had children, she knew what it was like...how important they were. While he may have actually still believed that two Tam’Day’U mating resulted in an abomination child, it was more likely that he was furious that she was allowed to have children and live a full life, herself, where his daughter wasn’t.

“I did not sell my people!” Faban growled, “You and your kind are not my people! You are no better than the Mrrakesh! At least Kato is a real Alraxian even if she is a whining little child!”

And that was it. Why he’d done it all.

He still hated Marix and the Tam’Day’U. Still clung to ancient prejudice that didn’t make any sense. He wanted her dead because she was supposed to have died long ago like a good Tam’Day’U. Killing her children was an extension of that. And the Mrrakesh...they were probably the only allies in that he could find. Kato would have been Empress if Marix was dead, and so that was why he was trying to put her on the throne. It had worked years before because Kato was ambitious and had a great deal of hatred for her cousin. But failure had softened Kato’s resolve, as had the outright rejection by Jyren. She wouldn’t help Faban anymore.

But there was one more important thing.

“How did you contact them, Faban?” Marix’s voice was suddenly calm again. While her mind was putting the pieces together, her rage was set aside. It would not help her. She had to have control here. Full control. Rage would take over and she would have none, so she pushed it away withe techniques that Faban, himself, had taught her.

Faban shook his head and actually looked insulted, “You think locking me away with guards all around can stop me from doing what needs to be done?”

“How did you contact them?”

“Why should I tell you that?” he finally took a step towards her instead of leaning against the wall for support, “You are still the creature I created, and I know what you’re going to do. No matter what I say here, I will not leave this room alive.”

Marix also took a step forward, putting her within arms reach of him again, “You should also know that there are many ways for you to die. And you have already shown me that you may have been a good teacher, but you are not a good student, even for yourself. You felt every bone in your hand snap before your wrist went. You couldn’t ignore it. You couldn’t focus on anything else but the pain. The exact opposite of what you’re supposed to do. And there are many more sensitive places on you to break. So tell me, Faban, how did you contact the Mrrakesh?”

He was still clutching the previously-injured hand. When he glanced down at it, Marix knew he was going to tell her. When he looked back up to meet her gaze, his face still had the same anger and disgust as before, but there was a sense of failure that she could see in his eyes. Quietly, he finally said, “There is a communications beacon in the northern mountains that relays the information to a Mrrakesh listening post on the border.”

Faban closed his eyes a moment before standing up straight and opening them again, “If you hadn’t ever come back, we would have been fine. None of this would have had to have happened. I was prepared to protect our people from the Mrrakesh. They would have never come back. But now you’ll fight them forever. And eventually they’ll win. They’ll win and this will all have been for nothing.”

The only reason Marix let him finish was because of that small part of her that had once been the link with Jyren...and was now the closest thing she had to him left. A small voice in her head that she knew wasn’t his, but sounded like it. No matter how terrible Faban was, Marix wasn’t as bad as he was. Where Faban would have cut her down and made her suffer, she would give him something he didn’t deserve...because she was a better person than he was.

His death was quick and painless. Faban did not fight back. He stood like a man that actually had honour. He barely even made a noise when she snapped his neck. Marix let his body simply drop to the ground. For an Alraxian, the only real instant death was separating the head from the rest of the body. While what she had done was close to that, he would have lived for a very few seconds and his natural instincts would have attempted to remorph the injury. But either he resisted this, or he simply wasn’t well trained enough to react quickly.

Either way, it didn’t matter.

Eleven years too late, Faban Sunrunner was finally dead.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 482: Time to Go

“We have a ship aboard...it is old, according to the humans, but it flies well and can take you home,” the Jendari, Janis, said. He took a few steps towards one of the large viewports to glance to the view of the green planet below, his own feathers roughly the same colour, “I expect your friends wonder where you have gone off to.”

“They didn’t know when I’d be back anyway,” Venda said with a shrug. This Jendari seemed much more personal than the others she’d met, and he also had a very strong knowledge of things she really didn’t think he should.

“Nonetheless, lady Jedi, I suspect that if you do not take this opportunity to leave, another will not come for a great deal of time,” he turned back to face her, a pair of grey eyes that bore deep into her watching her movements.

Venda idly reached a hand up to rub the back of her neck. For some reason it was aching still after that fight with the so-called Mrrakesh, “The whole galaxy is at war. Its no safer there...besides, it doesn’t feel right to just leave. I should help if I can.”

Something close to a smile formed on the beak-like head of Janis and he tilted his head to the side for a moment while a few feathers stood on end, “You are as noble as the Jedi of old. I am glad to see their ideals survived even if many of them did not. But this is no place for you to be. This...this is something that the Alraxians must work through for themselves. It is not right for anyone to interfere.”

“Even you?” Venda hadn’t missed that odd statement.

Janis shook his head and then looked back towards the planet, “Since the Jedi left thousands of years ago, we have taken on the role of guiding the Alraxians. What we have learned is that it is not our place to stand in the way. We must let them grow as they will, and simply hope to teach them a greater wisdom to push them along the right path.”

“So you’ll go to war for them, even if you don’t agree with it?” by now, the Jendari ships were already gone. Everyone aboard knew it, and soon the Alraxian people as a whole would. The entire political situation was still fairly new to Venda, but she was getting a good grasp of it.

“You do not understand why we follow them,” Janis stated a rather obvious fact, “We are not...conquerors. My people existed here in this space long before the Alraxians or the Mrrakesh. We saw their creation and their manipulation at the hands of the Sith, and we interfered then to protect both species from their creators. The Jedi sided with the Alraxians, however, and when it became apparent that the Sith’s control of the Mrrakesh was too strong, so did we. When the wars ceased...the Sith were driven out and the Jedi left. Where the Mrrakesh quickly began to use what they could to solidify a society, the Alraxians were lost. We saw them as...children. So we protected them and helped them. But we are not their masters and we would never dream of that. Every species has a right to make their own choices.”

Taking this history lesson in, Venda sighed and shrugged, “That does answer one thing, but not my question.”

A whistling noise that was probably a laugh escaped Janis and he smiled again, “If we protect the Alraxians from making mistakes they will not grow and the Mrrakesh will kill us all.”

“But you could...”

She trailed off when Janis quickly shook his head, “Before the Alraxians and the Mrrakesh and all of the other species that exist in this sector were a dream, we found a small group of very human-like beings on a planet near our borders. It was our first encounter with another intelligent species, and they were...primitive. We were not completely foolish and did not simply give them starships. We gently nudged them along, attempting to help them develop a little faster than they might have naturally. But we made their choices for them. We pushed them to what we thought they should be, because they were the choices we made. It wasn’t long before we didn’t give gentle nudges and they may as well have been slaves to us. They killed themselves off a thousand years before the Alraxians were born. They killed themselves off because of what we did to them. Because we tried to control their development, rather than guide it as we had originally intended.”

Those pieces started to fit into something that actually answered her question, “So you’ll follow the Alraxians to war, even if they could all die.”

“If I told you that they will not die, would you believe me?”

For a long few moments, Venda just stared at him, trying to read that alien face. Finally, she let out a sigh and nodded, “I would.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know...” the answer came quickly, but it was honest. Venda really didn’t know.

Carefully, the Jendari reached into a small pocket at his hip. He retrieved a small, thin object and extended it to her, “This will not be the last time we meet, and you will return here soon. We will survive here, but there are some in your war that will not without your help.”

Slowly and cautiously, Venda took the object from Janis, realizing the second she grabbed it that it was a small datacard. She looked at it, wishing she had a datapad to see the contents, then looked back to the Jendari, “Thank you. But...what is this?”

He bowed his head politely, “There is no need to thank me, lady Jedi. Before you leave, I expect the Empress will meet you in the hangar. Ask her about the gift we gave her.”

Behind her, the sound of a door opening got Venda’s attention. She turned around to see another Jendari, who was much more red in colour than Janis. This Jendari looked straight to Venda and motioned towards her, “Please, lady Jedi, the ship is ready.”

She sighed. There were a great many thing that Janis had said that were leaving far more questions than she’d started with, but Venda had a feeling he was right. Unsure of much of it, but deciding to follow along with it anyway, Venda looked back to Janis and bowed, “I do hope we meet again, Janis.”

“As I said, lady Jedi, we will,” he smiled again as she turned to leave, “Until then, may the Force be with you.”

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 483: Fondor

“Kark me...” Adria Harken’s voice cut through the rest of the chatter on the comm system as everyone got their bearings.

Rulae felt the need to reprimand her on that, but couldn’t help but agree with the feeling. The planet Fondor and its orbital shipyards were nearly impossible to see through the mass of objects that, according to the sensors, was the Yuuzhan Vong fleet. There were at least a hundred ships from transport size all the way up to some that were about the size of a Star Destroyer. Adding in the tiny dots and objects that were undoubtedly Coralskippers made it even more overwhelming.

But Rulae simply needed to turn his head to both sides to feel a bit better. To his X-Wing’s starboard side was Adria, currently designated Zephyr Two for this mission. Zephyr Three, Rea, and Four, Loro, were just slightly behind and above Rulae’s position. But beyond Adria’s X-Wing, Rulae could see even more starfighters. X-Wings, A-Wings, E-Wings, and even a few Y-Wings.

When he looked to his starfighter’s port side, Rulae could see more fighters. But there was also a sight he’d never seen with his own two eyes. That one ship, alone, an old, beat up looking CEC YT-1300 was a thing of legends. The Millennium Falcon. A symbol of the New Republic. But, truthfully, it was only one ship. The real morale booster for Rulae and the others wasn’t this wall of starfighters charging in at the Yuuzhan Vong lines, but what was behind them.

The New Republic fleet wasn’t as large as the Vong’s, but it was close. Star Destroyers, Mon Calamari Cruisers, gunships, and so many other large ships were heading in with them. For the first time since the war had started months before, it actually felt like a fair fight.

“Alright, Zephyrs,” Rulae pulled in his amazement at the situation thanks to a quick transmission of their orders that had just shown up on his HUD, “Fondor’s reporting that the Coralskippers are actually ramming the shipyards like giant missiles. They’re flying straight through the defenses and hitting the ship and anything they can. We’re going to push through that big group of Vong ships and help defend the shipyards.”

“That’s a tough push, sir,” Loro commented, his watery voice getting an added depth thanks to the scratchy sound of the comm system.

Rulae nodded, despite the fact that the Mon Calamari wouldn’t be able to see it, “Correct. So form up tight on me and we’ll overlap our shields. Stay close and we’ll go straight through.”

And the blackness between the New Republic ships and the Yuuzhan Vong fleet suddenly lit up. The Vong ships had positioned themselves in such a way to fire both on the shipyards and on the incoming fleet, firing their molten-red energy blasts towards the wave of starfighters. As the mass of small ships suddenly broke up into hundreds of small formations to avoid being taken down, the New Republic capital ships opened fire, sending green and red turbolaser blasts across the gap.

Some of the fighters were taken out in that initial salvo. Most avoided the first wave, though, and continued to head straight into the Vong fleet at full speed, just waiting to get in range to open up with their own weapons. The fire from the capital ships on both ends did not stop, and experience said that it wouldn’t until the entire battle was over, but instead, a new attack joined in, and it was one that was currently more dangerous to the starfighters.

Coralskippers.

They seemed to come out of no where, appearing like little chunks of the larger ships just falling off then flying in, spitting fire as they flew. Chaos erupted the second that the Coralskippers joined in. The comm channels were filled with cries. Some cut off abruptly, others spouted orders, and most called for help. A great many of the fighters broke off into dogfighting with the Coralskippers, focusing fire to overwhelm the dovin basal defenses of the Vong ships.

But Rulae held his course. He could see an opening between the Vong ships. A straight shot through the formation and to the shipyards which were still being pummeled. A sudden, bright flash in front of Rulae’s X-Wing caused him to react by banking to port. Thankfully, the others reacted with him, as they were flying close enough to easily collide if they weren’t careful.

“Sir, two of the cruiser analogs are firing on us!” Rea’s cried out over the comm as more bright flashes began to occur. Vong shots impacting the shields. They were only holding due to the strength of all four combined. Even then, they wouldn’t hold long.

“A group of skips coming in from behind us,” Adria cut in.

Rulae did what he was good at and took the entire situation in, then made a quick decision on how to achieve the necessary goal, “Change course. Bearing three one seven, mark two.”

Another flash, but this time it caused Rulae’s X-Wing to shake violently. The shields weren’t liking this beating...

“There’s a small cruiser directly in that path, sir,” Rea’s voice was hard to hear through the sounds around him, but Rulae had learned early on how to focus his hearing in combat.

“Arm torpedoes,” Rulae answered the unsaid question as he juked his X-Wing to the new course, the others falling behind a short second before catching up, “As soon as we’re in range, fire everything you’ve got at that cruiser. If we overload those damned dovin basals we can take it down.”

“And the skips?” Loro asked, sounding worried, “They’ll be within firing range in a few seconds.”

Their target cruiser, which was directly ahead now as they passed over a much larger, rounded Vong ship that was taking heavy fire from the New Republic’s capital ships, seemed to notice the four X-Wings coming at it. The teardrop-shaped cruiser, roughly the size of a Corellian Gunship, turned to bring its port side cannons to bear on the fighters and was already firing.

“That should keep the skips off of us!” Rulae said as he began to fall into his instincts. Now it was going to be impossible to stay close. All four of them were banking, juking, and spinning to avoid the shots from the cruiser ahead of them and, suddenly, one above that had taken notice. The one good thing about it was that any Coralskippers that tried to pursue could get caught in the shots, too.

“Aft shields down!” Adria yelped, but a noise suddenly drowned her out. A loud beeping sound.

The cruiser was in range.

Suddenly, the X-Wings that were moving wildly on their push forward let loose with their laser cannons. Arcs of red-orange answered the shots of the cruiser, most of them being sucked up by the miniature black holes that were the dovin basals. But some got through, thanks to the four of them firing on different areas and stuttering the shots so that the dovin basals couldn’t capture each of the shots.

Catching another flash in his eyes, Rulae wrenched his X-Wing to port hard, a shot from the cruiser singing his lower shields. Seeing he had a straight shot, and still holding down the trigger for his laser cannons, Rulae’s thumb shifted to hit another switch. Again, the X-Wing shook...once...twice...a third time. But these were Rulae’s doing. Mixing with his laser fire were three proton torpedoes, all on different paths and streaking towards the rapidly growing cruiser.

“Torpedoes away!” Rea called out a second later. While the other two said nothing to that effect, Rulae soon saw a good twelve or so bright blue objects joining the chaos.

Two of them were hit mid flight by stray shots from the Vong ships. The other half of them were sucked up by the cruiser’s dovin basals. But the rest hit. Five of the proton torpedoes slammed into the rock-like hull of the Vong cruiser, and the relatively small ship began to break apart from the force of the blasts.

As it broke up, small explosions rocked the interior before it finally stopped firing. Shards and chunks of the Vong cruiser flew in all directions, and Rulae quickly mapped out, in his head, a safe course through the wreckage to the shipyards beyond.

“Those skips are still on us!” Loro’s voice was strained, “Two on me!”

“Hold on, Four,” that was Rea.

Rulae managed a quick glance to his port to see an already battered X-Wing suddenly decelerate and drop back at the same time. Idealistic little...she was going to get herself killed.

“Two,” he said, hitting his comm switch, “Stay on my wing.”

“Right with you, sir,” Adria said as her ship pulled in a bit tighter.

Then, after ducking under a large chunk of the destroyed cruiser, Rulae looped around. Adria’s X-Wing followed, and the second they were facing the other direction, the two Coralskippers pursuing Loro were easy there. There were only a few short milliseconds before they shot under Rulae, but he managed to squeeze his trigger with some quick aim on one of them. His own fire was joined by a series of shots from his side, which meant Adria had done the same.

He didn’t even see the thing explode, as it had gone past already and Rulae was pulling hard to whip his X-Wing back around and get the other skip off of Loro’s tail. To the Mon Calamari’s credit, he was very, very good at not getting shot. By the time Rulae was looped back around, he was behind both the Coralskipper and Rea’s X-Wing, which was opening fire already.

Rulae pulled up above her and joined in, firing down on the small ship. The Coralskipper quickly banked away when it took a few hits, but Adria anticipated its direction and was already firing where it was flying to. There wasn’t an explosion, but the skip simply burst into pieces.

“Form up tight again while we can,” Rulae ordered as he put more power to his engines to catch up to both Rea and Loro, “Do what you can do get more power to your aft shields. Some of those Vong ships are still taking a liking to us.”

“Sir!” Rea’s voice sounded like she’d been shot, but since Rulae was still behind her, he’d have known if she’d have taken a direct hit, “I’m picking up one...two...seven...more...by the Force a huge fleet just dropped out of hyperspace!”

Immediately, Rulae looked down to his own sensor board. Sure enough, the already crowded screen got even more crowded. But they weren’t Vong. After a long second of a delay, the new arrivals turned green...broadcasting friendly IFF signals. And it was then that he realized the main comm channel was now filled with cheers.

He also realized they weren’t taking fire from the larger Vong ships anymore.

Rulae got his bearings and checked the sensor board again. Realizing where they would be, he looked to his starboard side and saw another new sight and something that was altogether wonderful. It was another fleet. They’d jumped in close, too. Hundreds of them. Some of the ships were round, and spinning as they spit turbolaser fire into the Vong ships. Others were like arrows, charging in already and firing everything they had. Battle Dragons and Nova Cruisers.

Hapan ships.

A Hapan fleet.

“I can’t believe it!” Adria was actually laughing. Truthfully, Rulae felt the same way.

But this time, the Commodore in him took over, “Zephyrs, eyes ahead. Those shipyards are still taking shots and it looks like there are still skips ramming them. Lets get them some cover while we have the chance. Its not our place to get in the way of the Hapan’s greeting of the Vong.”